Roman Board Games: Ursa and Rota

Two Roman board game boards with pieces and instructions, in an easy-to-print PDF. These two black-and-white boards print to A4 or A3 and provide two seasonal and kid or adult-friendly activities: colouring, and playing of simple board games!

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Merry Christmas!

URSA ('Bear')

 ’BEAR’ GAMES are a traditional form of game that could have been played in the roman era: boards for them exist from at least the 3rd century. 

They are still known as POLICE AND THIEF in france, Jeux des gendarmes et du voleur from Sologne, and CHASE THE HARE, a similar type of game from Greece.

TWO PLAYERS take either the BEAR or ALL THE HUNTER pieces. the BEAR starts in the MIDDLE, and the HUNTERS start TOGETHER IN A LINE at the TOP EDGE OPPOSITE. 

Each player can move only ONE SPACE PER TURN. the HUNTER player can move ANY of their pieces in their turn. 

The game ends when the HUNTERS have blocked in the BEAR. alternatively, the BEAR could win if the HUNTERS have a set limit of 40 moves to use.

ROTA or TERNI LAPILLI

Although its given Latin name, meaning ‘wheel’, is relatively modern, a game with this board was played throughout the Roman Empire. 

The players have three pieces each. They take turns placing them down on one of the spaces on the board. One all the pieces are down, they may move them to an adjacent space that isn’t blocked. The aim of the game is to get three in a row, like the modern game Naughts and Crosses/Tic Tac Toe.